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This Is Me--2019 A to Z Theme

The Challenge of 2019 was the 10th! Since this was kind of a milestone year for A to Z my theme was a retrospective of sorts, looking at my 10 years as a blogger as well as ruminations about my life as it is and as I hope it yet can be. I've got places to be and people to see along the way. Hope you'll join me for this part of my journey...

Always a work in progress--welcome to my blog.

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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

A Surprising Book: My Review of Dee Ready's New Release

At the risk of alienating and even antagonizing a large portion of my audience, I must make a confession: I am not a cat person. This is a personal thing that one day I plan to write about on my memoir blog Wrote By Rote. For now I'll just let it be known that I am not particularly fond of cats.

For this reason, it was with some reservations that I agreed to read Dulcy and Dee Ready's Twelve Habits of Highly Successful Cats & Their Humans when the author offered to send it to me to see if I would be willing to review it. Since Dee was responsible for one of the more popular guest spots at Wrote By Rote, her story of her first book A Cat's Life; and since I have always enjoyed the writing at her blog Coming Home to Myself, I felt like I should at least give her book a chance. Besides she asked so nicely and wasn't holding me to any obligations of a review that I couldn't turn down her offer.

In all honesty, I had low expectations of this book. I anticipated some cloyingly annoying animal story with all kinds of cutesy-isms and boring pet talk. Instead what I found in this short book was an enthralling story of love and devotion and a philosophical study of what it means to be truly alive.

Presented in a format similar to a self-help book, there are twelve sections corresponding to each of the twelve habits related to topics such as uniqueness, constancy, listening, acceptance, grieving, and others. Each habit is first explained by the superior being, a cat named Dulcy. Then the cat's human relates the life lessons she has learned from Dulcy.

This back and forth approach is done in a charming and very effective manner. Both cat and human provide exemplary anecdotes and observations that clarify each topic for the reader. Dee has done a commendable job of creating the distinctive voices of the cat and the human, filling each with enough humor and pathos to provide a well-rounded presentation that will entertain and enlighten.

With only seventy pages, this is a quick read that many will be able to do in one sitting. However the beauty of a book like this is that you can pick it up and open to any page and start reading and gain pleasure. It's the kind of a book you will probably be tempted to keep nearby to just read a snippet here or a habit there for inspiration. There is much wisdom in these pages and Dee has written it well.

If you are a cat lover I can almost guarantee that you will love this book. Anyone who enjoys animals will undoubtedly like this book. Even non-pet people like me who enjoy good writing will highly appreciate this book. Twelve Habits is as much about people and their relationships with other people as it is about cats and the people they choose to be with. The book can be read in an allegorical sense that can be helpful as much as it can be a fun read.

My recommendation is that you buy a copy of Twelve Habits of Highly Successful Cats & Their Humans for yourself and extra copies for the cat lovers that you know. This book would make a wonderful gift and it's inexpensive enough that it won't break you.

If you read Twelve Habits of Highly Successful Cats & Their Humans, I'd love to hear what you have to say about it. As for me this book almost made me wish I liked cats. Heck, it actually made me wish I were a cat who had a nice human to keep me company.

Do you yearn for joy? Do you dream of a welcoming lap and gentle words? Do you wish to know the deep delight of a life filled with tangy tuna and abiding love? Then follow my twelve habits for highly effective cats and their humans.

In this inspirational self-help book, an enterprising feline named Dulcy mews twelve stories that, if applied by other cats, can help them find nirvana with their humans. In an accompanying meditation, Dee helps human readers apply the habit to their own lives so they, too, can find the peace and contentment of a life well lived.

I think that I personally prefer dogs so don't worry Lee, your opening statement in this post doesn't bother me. This book sounds interesting, like you say I'm not sure if I would like it but then it sounds pretty good from the review so I'm not too sure haha.

'In all honesty, I had low expectations of this book. I anticipated some cloyingly annoying animal story with all kinds of cutesy-isms and boring pet talk. Instead what I found in this short book was an enthralling story of love and devotion and a philosophical study of what it means to be truly alive.'

Wow. That's quite the endorsement. (Note: your opening sentence drew me into the post. I read it on the blogroll and the side of my mouth hiked up.)

I was thrilled to see that you had posted a review of a book today, as I have never done one before, recently committed to writing one, and needed to know how it is done. And what happened as I read your post is that I became almost desperate to read the book. I guess I learned that that's how you write a review! Thanks!

Teresa -- I think you would appreciate this book. I will tell my story about me and cats one day.

Sia -- Dee Ready pulls off the POV extremely well.

Elaine - Thank you for the compliment. Reviews are very personal and that's the point. Write it from your heart, but don't forget your mind. My review is not an intense scholarly examination, but just my thoughts on the book and how it affected me.

I'm not passionate about cats, but I appreciate their companionship and have had many of them in my life. But I really enjoy Dee's blog, and have found her wisdom and intelligence to be so engaging, that I will certainly be purchasing this book--and sharing it with many of my cat-loving friends. I enjoyed reading a review! I hope she does well with the book, and she should be so proud! Debra

Trisha -- I think most hard-core cat lovers will also love this book. Actually I'm not much of a fan of keeping pets in urban areas, but mostly because of the irresponsible owners who don't keep things in check with their pets.

Go ahead and say something. Don't be afraid to speak your mind.I normally try to respond to all comments in the comment section so please remember to check the "Email follow-up comments" box if you want to participate in the comment conversation.

For Battle of the Bands voting the "Anonymous" commenting option has been made available though this version is the least preferred. If voting using "anonymous" please include in your comment your name (first only is okay) and city you are voting from and the reason you chose the artist you did.

If you know me and want to comment but don't want to do it here, then you can send me an email @ jacksonlee51 at aol dot com.

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Who's responsible for this blog anyway?

A juggler of words and phrases. My main blog is Tossing It Out. The focus blog for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge can now be found at a-to-zchallenge.com where updates will be posted until the event in April begins.
Wrote By Rote is about memoir writing.
A Few Words is my Sunday contemplation blog.
A Faraway View is about dreams. Pick what you like or look at them all. I love blogging!